Main Spheres of Social Life: The Political Sphere

Politics as a Form of Social Activity

The term "politics" derives from the Greek politike, meaning "the art of governing the state." However, it is now recognized that various interpretations and concepts of politics exist, which can be grouped into three broad research traditions: a) communicative-integrative; b) state-power (institutional); and c) sociological (conflictual). These major political paradigms arose at different historical moments, each dictating the specific content and functions of politics. The communicative-integrative concept of politics emerged in ancient Greece, reflecting the social practices of Greek city-states (poleis). The state-power paradigm was predominantly a product of the sixteenth to late seventeenth centuries, a period marked by the formation of modern European political states and the development of state-political activities. In contrast, the sociological concept of politics is relatively young, emerging only in the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries alongside the formation of modern mass industrial and post-industrial European states characterized by distinct sociological structures.

Thus, as a form of social activity, politics is objectively a necessary result of the historical development of society and social relations. Unlike material and spiritual activities, which engage with the natural and social worlds to secure material and spiritual goods, politics is fundamentally organizational and managerial in nature, tasked primarily with creating conditions for the functioning of the former.

At the dawn of societal emergence, organizational and managerial activities were intertwined with productive efforts and did not fulfill an independent function. The organization and coordination of actions were managed by the participants themselves during the activity, as the task dictated what needed to be done and by whom. Successful organizational structures were formalized into rules, establishing the logic for future collaborative endeavors. As life grew more complex, a variety of spheres emerged, resulting in a qualitative diversity of social reality, particularly in terms of mediated forms of interaction among social agents. This led to the necessity of distinguishing organizational and managerial activities as an independent function, thereby delegating these responsibilities to a specific category of individuals. A particular division of labor arose: those engaged in material activities versus those who organized and managed them. To facilitate this function, there was a need for the establishment of special institutions, which came to be known as the state, while this function itself became known as politics. Thus, politics encompasses state activities that organize and manage various forms of social activities and regulate relationships stemming from the exchange of their outcomes.

However, politics, like any activity, is goal-directed. This implies that political agents must possess a vision or image of the organizational and managerial forms in which social actors' activities will ultimately be embodied before the commencement of their endeavors. In other words, prior to executing their functions, political agents must have a sufficient and qualified understanding of the logic governing future activities. Politics is the realm in which this knowledge materializes into actual organizational and managerial forms, thus translating the ideal into the material.

Politics is interconnected with all spheres of social life and various levels and forms of social consciousness. The dialectical relationship between politics and the economy is particularly significant. This connection is such that, on one hand, politics frequently manifests as the most acute expression of the economic interests of the subjects involved in political relations. In this regard, politics, as defined by V.I. Lenin, serves as a concentrated reflection of the economy. Hence, politics arises from the material and productive economic foundation of society: economic interests ultimately act as the social cause of political actions.

Conversely, politics exerts a profound influence on economic development. While everyday changes in the economy typically occur under the immediate influence of developing productive forces, fundamental transformations in the entire economic structure of society are driven directly by political action, utilizing political power to restructure economic relations. Thus, the political sphere possesses a degree of autonomy: the logic of political actions and ideas does not merely mirror the logic of economic relations, creating the possibility for contradictions between the objective logic of economic movement and the logic of political actions, which often arise from a failure to adequately consider the laws of economic development. If politics accurately reflects the emerging needs of economic development, it becomes a force that facilitates the effective realization of possibilities inherent within the economic system of society. Conversely, if politics manifests as an absolutized authority that seeks to operate outside economic necessity, it leads to practical voluntarism and adventurism.

The relationship between politics and national culture and traditions is also of great importance, as these latter embed the priorities and cultural-value orientations that shape and nourish the fundamental principles upon which political relations and activities are significantly founded and constructed.

Since politics is the art of governance, to truly be considered an art, it must, first and foremost, be grounded in the achievements of science, and secondly, adhere to the highest moral standards, for political activity is the most consequential of all forms of social engagement.

Politics is primarily concerned with power and the state, as noted by M. Weber, for it signifies the pursuit of participation in power or the desire to influence the distribution of power, whether between states or within a state among groups endowed with power or those aspiring to wield it.